Texas A&M 101: All SEC fans need to know about the new 13th member

The 12th Man stands up for the entire game as one of the great traditions in college football.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Texas A&M has joined the SEC. Who are the Aggies?

Here's a primer on the SEC's 13th member, including on-field success, off-field finances, NCAA violations, comparisons with SEC members, and longstanding traditions you might want to learn before A&M joins the SEC on July 1, 2012.

Enrollment

Texas A&M has 50,050 total students in fall 2011, the sixth-largest university in the country. Texas A&M will surpass Florida as the largest university in the SEC.

(Source: 2009-10 data reported by schools to U.S. Department of Education)

Athletic Department Expenses

1. Florida, $105.2 million

2. LSU, $102.3 million

3. Tennessee $96.7 million

4. Auburn, $90.9 million

5. Alabama, $85.3 million

6. South Carolina, $78.3 million

7. Georgia, $76.3 million

8. Kentucky, $76.3 million

9. Arkansas, $71.8 million

10. Texas A&M, $69.2 million

11. Vanderbilt, $45.7 million

12. Ole Miss, $43.9 million

13. Mississippi State $36.3 million

Athletic Department Revenue

1. Alabama, $129.3 million

2. Florida, $116.5 million

3. LSU, $109.9 million

4. Tennessee, $100.7 million

5. Auburn, $92.6 million

6. Georgia, $88.0 million

7. South Carolina, $80.0 million

8. Kentucky, $79.7 million

9. Arkansas, $78.1 million

10. Texas A&M, $71.9 million

11. Vanderbilt, $49.9. million

12. Ole Miss, $43.9 million

13. Mississippi State, $38.1 million

Athletic Expenses Directly Allocated to Football

1. Alabama, $31.1 million

2. Auburn, $27.9 million

3. LSU, $25.6 million

4. Florida, $24.5 million

5. South Carolina, $22.8 million

6. Arkansas, $22.0 million

7. Georgia, $18.3 million

8. Tennessee, $17.4 million

9. Texas A&M, $16.6 million

10. Vanderbilt, $14.2 million

11. Kentucky, $13.9 million

12. Ole Miss, $11.9 million

13. Mississippi State, $10.0 million

Bear Bryant's Junction Boys became a popular book and television movie many years later.

Football History

The Aggies won the Associated Press national title in 1939, captured the Big 12 championship in 1998 and won 17 conference titles in the Southwest Conference. Their winningest coach is R.C. Slocum, who went 123-47-2 from 1989 to 2002. Three former Alabama coaches were at Texas A&M: Gene Stallings (27-45-1 record), Bear Bryant (25-14-2) and Dennis Franchione (32-28).

Texas A&M has a 60-55 record over the past 10 years. It has been to 32 bowl games (21st all-time), but has a 13-19 record in those games. The Aggies have lost five straight bowls and haven't won one since defeating TCU at the 2001 Galleryfurniture.com Bowl.

Last season, Texas A&M averaged 82,477 fans per game, ranked 13th in the country. That was fourth in the Big 12, and would have been seventh in the SEC behind Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, LSU, Florida and Auburn.

Texas A&M is 58-78-6 all-time against current SEC teams, including six straight losses by an average of 18.2 points. A&M's last win over an SEC member was against LSU on Sept. 2, 1995. A&M's record vs. each SEC team:

Alabama: 1-3

Arkansas: 24-40-3

Auburn: 2-0

Florida: 1-1

Georgia: 3-2

Kentucky: 1-1

LSU: 20-27-3

Ole Miss: 4-0

Mississippi State: 2-2

Tennessee: 0-2

Vanderbilt: 0-0

South Carolina: 0-0

You can't miss A&M's logo and the state of Texas on the Aggies' basketball court. Everything is bigger in Texas.

Men's Basketball History

Texas A&M has 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, including in five of the past six years. The deepest run the Aggies made was to the Sweet 16 in 2007, 1980 and 1969. The team has no Big 12 championships and won 11 in the Southwest Conference.

Over the past 10 years, Texas A&M is 9-3 against SEC opponents. That includes six straight victories since 2006-07, a period when the Aggies beat Alabama twice, LSU twice, Arkansas once and Auburn once.

Texas A&M averaged 9,000 fans per game in 2010-11, 50th in the country. That was eighth in the Big 12, and would have been eighth in the SEC ahead of Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss, Auburn and Mississippi State. The Aggies peaked in recent years with 10,343 fans per game in 2007-08 after the Sweet 16 season.

Women's Basketball History

The Aggies won their first national title in 2011 by defeating Notre Dame and Stanford at the Final Four. Texas A&M has made seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances, reaching the Sweet 16 in 2009 and the Elite Eight in 2008.

Last year, the Aggies ranked 12th in the country in attendance with 6,104 fans per game. That was fourth in the Big 12, and would have been third in the SEC behind Tennessee and Kentucky.

Baseball History

Texas A&M reached Omaha in 2011 for its fifth College World Series appearance, along with trips in 1999, 1993, 1964 and 1951. The Aggies have 27 NCAA Tournament

Olsen Field, home of the Texas A&M baseball team that reached the College World Series last season.

appearances, including five in a row and seven of the past nine years. They have reached a super regional in three of the past five years.

Over the past decade, Texas A&M has a 10-6 record against SEC teams. The Aggies are 6-2 vs. the SEC since 2006, going 5-1 vs. Florida, 1-0 vs. Arkansas and 0-1 vs. South Carolina (at the 2011 College World Series).

Last season, Texas A&M was 11th nationally in attendance at 3,994 fans per game. That was second in the Big 12 behind only Texas, and would have been sixth in the SEC behind LSU, Ole Miss, Arkansas, South Carolina and Mississippi State.

Other Sports

Last spring, Texas A&M became the first school in history to win three consecutive men's and women's outdoor track and field national titles. The Aggies finished eighth in the 2010-11 Directors' Cup standings that ranks each school's entire athletics department. A&M finished behind only Stanford, Ohio State, California, Florida, Duke, North Carolina and Virginia.

In the 2010-11 standings, Texas A&M placed seventh nationally in women's golf, ninth in men's golf, ninth in softball, 33rd in women's tennis, ninth in men's tennis, first in men's and women's outdoor track, first in women's basketball, 33rd in men's basketball, 10th in women's swimming, 13th in men's swimming, fifth in women's indoor track, second in men's indoor track, 21st in football, and 17th in women's soccer.

NCAA Major Infractions Cases

Texas A&M's athletics department has encountered seven major infractions cases, including three between 1988 and 1994. The last one came in '94, when the Aggies served one-year TV and postseason bans. How Texas A&M's major infractions cases compare to its new SEC rivals (most recent infractions case in parentheses):

T-1. Texas A&M 7 (1994)

T-1. Auburn, 7 (2004)

T-3. Kentucky, 6 (2002)

T-3. Georgia, 6 (2004)

T-5. Alabama, 5 (2009)

T-5. Mississippi State, 5 (2004)

T-7. Arkansas, 4 (2007)

T-7. Florida, 4 (1990)

T-7. South Carolina, 4 (2005)

T-10. LSU, 3 (2011)

T-10. Ole Miss, 3 (1994)

T-10. Tennessee, 3 (2011)

13. Vanderbilt, 1 (1992)

Note: South Carolina recently received a notice of allegations from the NCAA.

Traditions

The 12th Man: Name of Texas A&M's entire student body. The students stand during the entire game to show their support, symbolizing the 12th Man is always in the stands and waiting to be called upon if needed. The tradition was created in 1922 when E. King Gill, a former football player, was called from the stands to be on the sideline and help his depleted team just in case. In the 1980s, Jackie Sherrill started the 12th Man Kickoff Team composed of regular students through open tryouts. R.C. Slocum later changed it to allow only one representative of the 12th Man on the kickoff team.

Yell practice: Midnight Yell is held the night before a home game in Kyle Field and on

Texas A&M is famous for its yell leaders who lead cheers, starting with yell practice one or two nights before each game.

Thursday nights before away games to practice yells. The tradition started in 1931 and one of the Aggies' old yell leaders, Rick Perry, is the current Texas governor and a presidential candidate.

Aggie ring: Texas A&M likes to say everything on the ring represents a value that an Aggie should hold. The Aggie ring is the most visible way for Texas A&M graduates to recognize each other.

Gig 'em: The Aggies started the tradition of school hand signs in the Southwest Conference with this one in 1930. Many Texas A&M fans end conversations with "Gig 'em" and a thumbs up.

Reveille: The school's official mascot, a collie that's the first lady of Aggieland. Reveille is considered a cadet general and the highest ranking member in the Corp of Cadets. She wears five diamonds on her maroon-and-white blanket. There's a cemetery on campus where all of the Reveilles are buried.